Alcohol News: July 2004
Friday, July 30, 2004
National and State Community Groups Back Michigan's U.S. Supreme Court Bid to Stop Unaccountable Alcohol Sales
PR Newswire (press release), July 29, 2004
LANSING, Mich. -- Members of the Coalition for a Safe and Responsible Michigan were joined by health, safety and education groups from across the nation in signing an amicus brief delivered to the U.S. Supreme Court today, in support of Michigan's appeal to maintain its alcohol regulation laws. The high court is scheduled to take up the appeal during its fall session which begins October 2004, with a decision expected in early 2005.
The brief focuses on the danger posed to minors if alcohol regulations are eliminated. The brief maintains that eliminating Michigan's longstanding system of alcohol regulation, which would be dismantled if a Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decision stands, would greatly increase underage access through Internet and phone sales and would render state alcohol regulation unenforceable.
"As principals, we are on the front lines everyday, protecting our students from the dangers of drinking and we are quick to oppose anything that would make it easier for kids to gain access to alcohol," said Jim Ballard, executive director of the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals. "We think it is extremely important to tell the Supreme Court how strongly we feel about this issue and how dangerous de-regulation of alcohol will be to our communities."
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Winemakers seek health tag in thirst for sales
UK Guardian, July 30, 2004
An increasingly heated row is raging in France between wine makers and the medical establishment about how, or whether, this once most bibulous of countries should be persuaded to drink more wine.
The crisis facing French wine exports, reeling from an onslaught of New World competitors cheaper, easier to identify, more consistent and often far more drinkable, is well documented.
Less well known is the fact that the French themselves are now drinking a mere 340m litres of wine a year, against 430m litres in 1980, and that the annual consumption of each French adult has plunged from more than 100 litres in the 1960s to 58 litres (102 pints) last year.
A white paper presented yesterday by five MPs from wine-making areas says the decline could be halted by giving wine a special legal status, reclassifying it as a foodstuff with nutritional value, and advertising its beneficial and healthy properties.
Doctors disagree. They point out that alcohol is responsible for about 40,000 premature deaths a year in France, and that one of the government's recently stated public health objectives is to cut alcohol consumption by 20% within five years.
Doctors say two-thirds of the deaths in France attributed to alcohol, either directly from fatal illness or indirectly via accidents, murders and suicides, are due to excessive consumption of wine. They also stress the dangers of the term "moderation". Dr Reynaud said: "It's a terrible trap. Everyone defines for themselves what moderation is. Almost all excessive drinkers consider themselves within the norm.
"What is needed is more publicity on the dangers of alcohol, not encouragement to drink 'moderately'."
The wine lobby wants the government to exempt wine at least partially from the Loi Evin, a 1991 law which bans alcohol adverts on television and in the cinema, and limits those in the print media to factual information.
"There's the public health reality and the commercial reality of production and marketing. The two will never meet; they can't. They are poles apart."
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New restrictions for some bars, liquor stores
Argus Online, CA, July 30, 2004
Some alcohol sales outlets, such as bars and liquor stores, will find it harder to operate in unincorporated Alameda County as the result of actions by county supervisors this week.
The supervisors' decision will limit efforts to transfer a new liquor sales license, without review, to a certain category of bars or liquor stores that have been closed for more than 30 days and are adjacent to other alcohol sales outlets.
The action arose, said Supervisor Nate Miley, as a result of long-standing problems at the Terrace Club on Foothill Boulevard in the unincorporated area south of San Leandro.
"The benefit of this ordinance is that it will aid the county in implementing its current zoning standards on alcohol outlets that have existed for decades under a nonconforming status," Miley explained.
Under current zoning laws, some longtime liquor sales businesses may be "grandfathered" in as "legal, nonconforming uses" if they are next to other alcohol sales outlets. They are exempt from current county ordinances that review new alcohol sales outlets and their proximity to similar businesses.
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Court: State ban on alcohol ads in college newspapers is unconstitutional
Centre Daily Times, PA, July 29, 2004
A Pennsylvania law banning paid advertisements for alcohol in college newspapers is unconstitutional, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.
A three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the 1996 law, which was intended to combat underage drinking, placed an unfair financial burden on student-run publications and hindered their right to free speech while doing little to achieve its goal.
The law was challenged by The Pitt News, a student-run paper at the University of Pittsburgh.
In a 17-page opinion, Judge Samuel Alito said the state faces a heavy burden anytime it tries to restrict speech, but had offered only "speculation" and "conjecture" to support its contention that the ad ban would slacken the demand for alcohol by underage Pitt students.
Pitt News business manager, Pitt senior Bethany Litzinger, praised the court's ruling Thursday. She said the advertising ban was well-intentioned, but misguided. "We did understand the concerns of the legislators. They felt the ads promoted underage drinking. But 70 percent of our readers are over 21," Litzinger said.
After a federal judge initially upheld the law, the newspaper had defiantly begun a feature called "Drink Specials," in which it published beer and mixed-drink prices at local bars free of charge.
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Thursday, July 29, 2004
Crispin Porter + Bogusky ripped over ads for Molson
The Miami Herald, FL, July 29, 2004
An alcohol industry watchdog wants Molson USA to yank a marketing campaign created by Miami's Crispin Porter + Bogusky because, the group charges, the ads encourage men to trick women into having sex.
Print ads appearing in women's magazines depict Molson drinkers as rugged but sensitive guys. In men's magazines, however, Molson ads tell readers that there are ``hundreds of thousands of women pre-programmed for your convenience.''
The ''Friends'' campaign -- which won CP+B a silver Clio award in May -- violates the Beer Institute's Advertising and Marketing Code, said the Marin Institute, which fired off a letter of complaint to Molson and the Beer Institute on Wednesday.
''This ad campaign goes over the line by giving men the tools to deceive women into sex,'' said Amon Rappaport, communications director for the California-based Marin Institute, an alcohol watchdog group. ``When 25 percent of American women experience sexual assault, including rape, and half of the incidents involve alcohol, it's irresponsible for any beer company or ad agency to make that connection.''
Linking booze and sex is nothing new in marketing, of course, especially when the biggest group of beer drinkers consists of men ages 21 to 28, said Eric Shepherd, executive editor of the trade publication Beer Marketer's Insight.
Nor are the Molson ads the first to land CP+B smack in the center of controversy. In 2002, the furniture retailer IKEA pulled a CP+B ad after receiving complaints from a national gay advocacy group.
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White House Considers Role in Wine Case
Washington Post, D.C., July 29, 2004
The Bush administration has until the end of today to decide whether to take a stand in a Supreme Court case pitting former Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr and President Bush's brother-in-law against a coalition...
The administration is not a party to the case, in which wine producers are trying to overturn state laws prohibiting Internet wine shipments. But the White House finds itself caught between two parts of Bush's political base: business interests who favor freer commerce and religious conservatives concerned about minors buying wine.
Starr, representing groups called the Coalition for Free Trade and the Family Winemakers of California, has been prominent in representing the wine industry as it fights bans in Michigan and New York of direct sales of wine across state lines, generally done via the Internet. "The laws of these states are antithetical to the principle of free interstate trade on which this nation was founded," Starr wrote in the Wall Street Journal. "With their blatant discrimination against out-of-state economic interests, these laws are constitutionally indefensible."
On the other side are New York and Michigan, who are supported by attorneys general from 35 states. (About half the states have bans on direct wine sales.) The states are joined by liquor distributors and a coalition of religious and community groups including the National Association of Evangelicals, the Eagle Forum, Concerned Women for America and American Values. These groups have joined a friend-of-the-court brief to be filed today by the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals.
"When I saw this case I immediately jumped on it," said Richard Cizik, vice president for governmental affairs for the National Association of Evangelicals. Cizik said he will be "disappointed" if the administration does not side with him. "Underage youth are purchasing alcohol at alarming rates," he said.
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Molson CEO hints he'll leave if Coors merger is rejected
Globe and Mail Business, Canada, July 28, 2004
Molson Inc. chief executive officer Dan O'Neill put his job on the line Tuesday, hinting he would leave the brewery if shareholders vote down his proposed merger with Adolph Coors Co.
After confirming that he is poised to receive an undisclosed change-of-control payment if the so-called "merger of equals" goes ahead, Mr. O'Neill predicted that Molson's share price will tumble if it doesn't.
Leo Kiely, CEO of Coors, provided further concerns for Molson shareholders, repeating that Coors would abandon its partnership with Molson if the deal does not go through.
The Molson CEO said the company had examined other options, including running Molson as an income trust, but determined that a merger with Coors was the best way to proceed.
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Wednesday, July 28, 2004
In Molson Ads, Tips to Get Girls Turns Some Off
Wall Street Journal, NY, July 28, 2004
The Molson man's accoutrements -- intended to impress women -- are fake, but they're part of a real ad campaign called "Friends." Molson USA says the print ads, which started running earlier this year, are in good fun.
The Marin Institute says the ads for Molson's flagship Molson Canadian brew violate the voluntary marketing and advertising code of the Beer Institute, the Washington trade group that represents the U.S. beer industry. The code stipulates that beer ads must portray beer in a responsible manner and be in "good taste."
Molson USA, a joint venture of Canada's Molson Co. and Adolph Coors Co. that imports Molson products, isn't a member of the Beer Institute, but the proposed merger of Coors and Molson could change that.
Coors, even with its Beer Institute membership, has its own history of edgy advertising and has been criticized for its association with PG-13-rated "Scary Movie 3" and for its television ads featuring buxom twins in scanty outfits. "This is a merger of equals -- both are equally guilty of irresponsible advertising," says Amon Rappaport, spokesman for the Marin Institute. "Coors already targets underage youth."
The fake business cards, family photos and even blood-donor stickers in the Molson Canadian "Friends" campaign, created by Miami ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky, are intended to help men meet women, dubbed "hotties" in the ads. One of the ads, which have run in the magazines Stuff and FHM, features a bottle of Molson Canadian and states, "Sexy gals can't resist sensitive guys." It suggests putting the cards and photos in your wallet for the next time you buy a woman a drink, to "start a conversation that really goes somewhere."
The Marin Institute, based in San Rafael, Calif., says Molson's ads promote lying as a means of making friends with the ultimate goal of getting women into bed -- a violation of the Beer Institute's restriction against portraying "amorous activity" as a result of consuming beer.
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Tuesday, July 27, 2004
Ratings Creep
Common Sense Media, July 23, 2004
A Harvard study released on July 12 confirms what we suspected about the movie ratings assigned by the Motion Picture Association: They have deteriorated badly over the past 10 years. Content that once got a PG-13 now gets a PG, and content that once got an R now gets a PG-13. The study documents "ratings creep" or, in academic terms, "decreased stringency." "[T]he MPAA appears to tolerate increasingly more extreme content in any given age-based category (primarily violence, sex, and profanity) over time."
The Harvard researchers, Kimberly M. Thompson and Fumie Yokota, examined the MPAA ratings for several different criteria and concluded that "...The MPAA rating reasons provide important information about content, but they do not identify all types of content found in films and they may particularly miss the depiction of substances" including alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs.
Thompson and Yokota, correctly see this as a problem of children's health. "Public health research demonstrates correlations between children's exposure to media and preventable mental health problems, and suggests that media may provide models for risky behaviors that children and adolescents may imitate." They found "mixed and inappropriate health messages, including glorification of violent acts, smoking, alcohol and drug abuse, and frequent depiction of firearms" in movies approved by the MPAA for young children.
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Push on to vaporize alcohol device
Newsday, NY, July 23, 2004
Before a machine that allows drinkers to inhale vaporized alcohol for a "quick hit" is introduced next month in the United States, a Suffolk County legislator wants to ban it.
Legis. Jon Cooper (D-Lloyd Harbor) filed a bill Wednesday to prohibit the sale, purchase and use of the device, called the Alcohol Without Liquid, or AWOL, machine, in the county. "I feel it's important for us to take a preemptive act in this case before they show up in bars on Long Island," Cooper said.
At a news conference yesterday, Cooper said the machine could harm people's health and increase alcohol abuse, drunken driving and underage drinking. Cooper said the bill will be presented during the Aug. 10 legislature meeting and discussed during a public hearing Aug. 24. The earliest the legislation could be passed is September. "My gut feeling is that it will pass," Cooper said. "I think a strong case will be made for the risks."
Users of the AWOL machine pour liquor into a hand-held device, according to the Web site of the machine's U.S. distributor, Spirit Partners Inc. The liquor then travels to an oxygen generator, and gets breathed in through the mouth via a hose, administering an "instant hit," according to the Web site. The company is marketing the machine as a hangover-, calorie- and carb-free way to use alcohol.
The machine was invented and launched in Great Britain. Spirit Partners Inc. is planning to launch its product Aug. 20 in New York City. The company has taken preliminary orders for the $2,995 machine, but Kevin Morse, a partner in the company, would not say how many.
Because the alcohol is inhaled, it bypasses organs usually responsible for its absorption, metabolism and detoxification, like the stomach, intestines and liver, said Dr. Michael Delman, director of the chemical dependency department at Southside Hospital in Bay Shore.
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Drinking hours extended in Wilton Manors, FL
Sun-Sentinel.com , FL, July 23, 2004
The Island City's last call for alcohol is now an hour later on Fridays. City commissioners recently approved an extra hour for alcohol sales citywide after bar owners on Wilton Drive complained that patrons were heading to Fort Lauderdale where drinks are served until 3 a.m. Friday nights. Wilton Manors' bars originally stopped serving alcohol at 2 a.m.
Commissioners voted 3-2, with Mayor Scott Newton and Commissioner Gary Resnick opposing.
"The bar and nightclub owners approached the city from within the arts and entertainment district," City Manager Joseph Gallegos said. "Merchants said they were losing business to the neighboring cities on Friday evenings." Vice Mayor Craig Sherritt said he hopes the extra hour keeps businesses within Wilton Manors.
"It's just to level the playing field between Wilton Manors and Fort Lauderdale," Sherritt said. "We wanted to make sure our businesses had the opportunity to make a profit."
"We extended the measure everywhere in the city because we felt it was discriminatory" to give the extra hour to businesses only in the entertainment district, Sherritt said. Sherritt added that the extra hour could make the city safer because more patrons will stay in Wilton Manors instead of traveling to Fort Lauderdale. "People will be out on the road less at 2 in the morning," he said.
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Monday, July 26, 2004
Raising the bar Happy Hour
San Francisco Chronicle - San Francisco,CA, July 24, 2004
It's happy hour, which means that for six or seven bucks you can have a drink and a healthy appetizer -- well, healthy in size if not necessarily in, uh, health. By the time happy hour ends at 6:30, the pachyderm will be packed.
"The big difference is people now eat around cocktails," says Clark Wolf, a restaurant consultant who divides his time between New York and San Francisco. "Before, people used to go in, have drinks and maybe stay for dinner.
Thanks to the sputtering economy, this scenario is hardly unique to the Peninsula or the Bay Area or California. Happy days may not be here again, but happy hours are certainly coming back.
Unlike California, nearly half the states have laws restricting happy hours, according to Alexander Wagenaar, director of the Alcohol Epidemiology Program at the University of Minnesota. He said laws vary, but some states prohibit 2-for-1 drinks, advertising happy hours or even offering any sort of a discount.
"If there ever was a bad idea, happy hour fits that," said Henry Wechsler, director of the College Alcohol Studies Program at Harvard University's School of Public Health. "It gets people to drink more than they might in a short period of time."
He said studies of college students have shown there is more binge drinking in areas where there are low-priced specials. "Youth is more influenced by price because they have less money," he said.
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Tribes face long road to end generations of alcohol abuse
missoulian.com, July 25, 2004
Tribes face long road to end generations of alcohol abuse. "We need to think as broadly as we can here, because this is not a problem with an easy solution," Barb Monaco, head of juvenile probation for Lake County, said at a May meeting in Polson. "We need to come up with ideas about schools, about homes, about the justice system. This is no one person's responsibility. This is all of our responsibility."
The reservation and its towns now have a synchronized curfew for kids. An old horn used to warn folks that a reservoir dam had burst now tells the kids of Ronan that they need to get home. Schools are taking a more aggressive approach, looking to intervene more quickly at any sign of trouble.
The days of looking the other direction when adults buy liquor for children is over, too. Adults already have been charged with buying the alcohol that helped kill Joey DuMontier and Tyler Benoist, and a suspect has been identified in the deaths of Justin Benoist and Frankie Nicolai.
"That's probably been the most concrete change we've made," Lake County Sheriff Bill Barron said recently. "We are going to have no tolerance for that. I'd say before that we usually focused on the youth, but now we're looking across the spectrum. It's not just the kid - they got the liquor from somebody."
"When you are dealing with alcohol, one of the best measures is prevention, and that's something we don't do very well, with alcohol or health in general," health director Kevin Howlett said. "We spend almost all our time and money on acute crises, and that is not a very good way to come at a problem like this."
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Any of these in your child's lunch box?
Fremont North Neighborhood Council, CA, July 25, 2004
Most of us are familiar with the center object - Kraft Foods, Inc., gives them away in our school cafeterias. The object on the left is a Wet Willy's gelatinous "Edible Cocktail" packed with 12% alcohol by volume. Just the thing to kick off a student's afternoon! Likewise, the objects on the right are "Jello-shots," also around 12% alcohol by volume.
An effort to ban these lunchbox look-alikes passed the California Assembly but died in the Senate's Committee on Governmental Organization on June 22nd. That body did refer the bill to the Senate Appropriations Committee during the next session.
Wet Willy's come with a variety of non-alcoholic-sounding flavors: Melon Ball, Lemon Drop, Golden Dream, Blue Hawaiian, as well as more adult-sounding types. These Jello-like capsules are easily made at home with recipes abounding on the Internet. There are many different configurations, even one using hypodermic syringes!
So far as we know, Wet Willy's or similar commercial products have yet to arrive in Ventura County. Oxnard's Responsible Acohol Policy Action Coalition (RAPAC) is preparing fact sheets on Wet Willy's and other such alcohol-to-kids marketing contrivances.
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Alcohol's effect on people's health, behaviour and safety
Medical News Today, July 24, 2004
Alcohol is a feature in 50 per cent of all reported crimes and a third of all domestic violence incidents. It is implicated in 22,000 premature deaths each year, 1,000 suicides and 17 million lost working days.
There are two main types of drinking that are a cause for concern - binge drinking and chronic drinking. Binge drinkers tend to be under 25, while chronic drinkers tend to be 30 or over. These two groups are the main targets of the alcohol strategy, which aims to tackle alcohol-related disorder and health problems and to provide better information for people about alcohol misuse while clamping down on the irresponsible promotion of drinking.
The research, undertaken at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee and the University of California in San Francisco, found that people who drank more than 100 alcohol units a month suffered from brain damage which led to memory loss, impaired mental function and lowered intelligence.
Crime and disorder are obvious consequences of excess alcohol consumption that also have a heavy impact on health services. Binge drinkers are most at risk of accidents and alcohol poisoning, risk being a victim of violence or sexual assault, and are more likely to commit violence.
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Friday, July 23, 2004
Brewers facing a quandary; nation's top producers must grow or be bought
Denver Post Business, CO, July 22, 2004
Stagnant domestic beer sales and increasing pressure to expand have forced the hands of the nation's top brewers - get bigger or get bought out.
In 2002, South African Breweries Plc bought Milwaukee-based Miller Brewing Co. for $5 billion, making the combined company, SABMiller, the second-largest brewer in the world. In November, San Antonio-based Pabst Brewing Co., the No. 4 U.S. beermaker, put itself on the block.
And this week, Golden-based Adolph Coors Co., the No. 3 brewer in the country and No. 8 worldwide, said it was in advanced merger talks with Montreal-based Molson Inc. The beer industry, like almost every other industry, is becoming more global," said Eric Shepard, executive editor of Beer Marketer's Insight, a Nanuet, N.Y.-based trade publication.
That trend has forced U.S. beermakers to find ways to grow by increasing their presence elsewhere. In 2001, Coors acquired the No. 2 beer brand in the United Kingdom when it bought Interbrew SA's Carling business for $1.7 billion.
Even if Coors and Molson merge, more deals may be in the works, Gatza said. The combined company could look to acquire other brewers.
Gatza also said Coors and Molson, which is battling Labatt to become Canada's No. 1 beermaker, could target Pabst to increase U.S. market share.
Analysts speculate that the merged company could be the target of a buyout by Heineken, which had been rumored to be interested in Coors in the past. "The global consolidation of the beer industry is probably going to continue for another five years," Gatza said.
Brian Morgan, a U.S. beer analyst with Euromonitor International, said the Coors-Molson merger would benefit both companies.The merger would make it easier for Coors to expand its brand in Canada and help Molson revive its brand in the much bigger U.S. market, Morgan said.
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British Worry That Drinking Has Gotten Out of Hand
The New York Times, July 22, 2004
Britain has always been a place where people enjoy a drink or two...But lately the country's growing inability to hold its liquor has taken on the scope of a national crisis.
By some measures it already has. Cheaper and more readily available alcohol, changing drinking patterns, a steep increase in drinking among young women and a decline in old standards of civility have turned what was once a manageable part of life into a problem that costs society, according to government estimates, $35 billion a year.
But the most widely debated change is to allow some pubs to stay open past the current closing time of 11:20 p.m., starting in the autumn of next year. The change, allowing the pubs to set their own closing times, with approval, is meant to dissuade rushed binge drinking at "last orders."
Some have their doubts and worry that more time at the pub will, well, simply allow people to drink still more.
"It's hard to see how it could help," said Michael Marmot, professor of epidemiology and public health at University College London. "The evidence suggests that the longer the opening hours and the easier it is to have access to alcohol, the higher the consumption."
Professor Marmot presided over a recent report from the Academy of Medical Sciences that urged the government to work to reduce alcohol consumption in general. Britain has historically been a hard-drinking place, but the current trends are alarming.
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High Schools Lower Teen Tobacco and Alcohol Use Through Social Norms Interventions
Yahoo News, Thursday July 22, 2004
PRNewswire -- Social norms is an effective method of reducing tobacco and alcohol usage among high school students as reported today at the National Social Norms Conference in Chicago. High schools in Evanston and Naperville, Illinois, which have been among the first in the country to utilize a social norms model on the high school level, have witnessed significant reductions after just two years.
"The success among a growing number of colleges and universities in achieving significant reductions in high-risk drinking and related harmful behavior has paved the way for the social norms approach to be applied successfully in high schools and communities," said Michael Haines, Director of the National Social Norms Resource Center, which presented the conference. "We have developed a guidebook, introduced at the conference, so that high schools across the country can implement their own successful social norms campaigns."
The National Social Norms Conference is presented by the National Social Norms Resource Center and the Bacchus and Gamma Peer Education Network. The National Social Norms Resource Center is an independent center that supports, promotes and provides technical assistance in the application of the social norms approach to a broad range of health, safety and social justice issues, including alcohol-related risk-reduction and the prevention of tobacco use.
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Thursday, July 22, 2004
New Resources on Alcohol Excise Taxes
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) announces a new resource for alcohol-policy activists, policy makers, educators, and journalists. The new resource is intended both to inform the debate on alcohol taxes and other alcohol-policy issues and stimulate discussion about the appropriate role of the beer industry in societal attempts to combat alcohol problems.
The "Factbook on $tate Beer Taxe$" provides comprehensive data on beer-tax rates across the country and examines the steady, inflation-induced decline in the value of those taxes to state government. The data reveal that 22 states have not raised beer taxes for more than two decades, and that one state, New York, has even reduced its rate. It shows how most states have ignored strong fiscal and public health rationales for increasing beer taxes.
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) is holding a free Alcohol Excise Tax audio conference on July 27, 2004, focusing on a National Research Council report put out by the Institute of Medicine called "Reducing Underage Drinking: A Collective Responsibility". During this event, speakers will discuss the research and data that supports alcohol tax increases and spotlight several States that have been successful in raising taxes. Furthermore, they will discuss new efforts to "roll back the beer tax."
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Coors and Molson announce plans to merge
mlive.com, July 22, 2004
DENVER (AP) -- Adolph Coors Co., the nation's third-biggest brewer, and Canada's Molson Inc. announced plans to merge Thursday in a deal that would create a North American giant to compete against the world's beermaking titans.
The combined company created by the deal, which was described as a merger of equals, would have annual revenues of about $6 billion and rank fifth in the world by brewing volume, the companies said.
It will be known as Molson Coors Brewing Co., and market brands like Coors Original and Coors Light, Molson Canadian, Keystone and Carling.
The deal would merge two family-led breweries both founded more than a century ago. Golden-based Coors trails Anheuser-Busch and SABMiller in the U.S. brewing business, while Montreal-based Molson is neck-and-neck with Interbrew SA's Labatt Brewing in Canada.
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Momentum Builds to End Beer Ads in College Sports
Center for Science in the Public Interest, DC, July 22, 2004
More than 200 colleges in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) have pledged to end alcohol advertising on college sports broadcasts. Those schools are joined by two Division I conferences-the Ivy League and the Big South Conference-which have also signed the “College Commitment,” a nationwide effort promoted by the Campaign for Alcohol-Free Sports TV.
The "College Commitment" asks schools to end alcohol ads on local broadcasts of their sporting events and to vote within their conference and the NCAA to end alcohol ads on all televised college sports events.
“College presidents, athletic directors, and coaches are increasingly uncomfortable trying to combat alcohol problems on campus on the one hand, and promoting beer on their sports broadcasts on the other,” said George A. Hacker, director of the Alcohol Policies Project at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which runs the Campaign for Alcohol-Free Sports TV. “In just a few months, 20 percent of NCAA-member schools joined the campaign to sever the link between alcohol advertising and college sports.”
“Eliminating alcohol ads from college games will not in itself eliminate all alcohol problems on campus,” Hacker said. “But it is an important step that colleges should take as part of a comprehensive effort to reduce underage and binge drinking.”
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Drunken crime is a citywide problem
San Luis Obispo Tribune, CA, July 21, 2004
"I think in this community, alcohol, and not just alcohol use, but the negative behaviors and consequences that result from excessive alcohol use and alcohol abuse, is one of the most significant problems in our community," Deborah Linden, the city's police chief, said recently.
Nationwide, the Harvard School of Public Health reports that at least two out of every five U.S. college students regularly binge drink -- defined as consuming at least five drinks in one sitting. Locally, the figures surpass that -- almost half of about 600 students responding to a 2002 Cal Poly survey said they had engaged in binge drinking.
"Alcohol's the one thing that we don't talk about because we use it," said Frank Warren, coordinator of the county Friday Night Live program, which promotes teen lifestyles free of alcohol or drug abuse. "We drink. We as a society have accepted it so much that we're not always willing to look at the underbelly of it."
Cornel Morton, Cal Poly vice president of student affairs, started the University/Community Alcohol Task Force to decrease the destructive behavior that too often accompanies drunkenness, and to help find solutions to the problem of students abusing alcohol.
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Cities planning to put teenage drinking on ice
The Salt Lake Tribune, UT, July 22, 2004
On tap at most Utah County cities: proposals aimed at keeping alcohol out of teens' reach by requiring store clerks to get a county-issued permit to sell beer.
"This will give us another tool in our arsenal to deal with the issue of the sale of alcohol to minors," Provo Chief Administrative Officer Wayne Parker said this week. "This allows us to go after the clerk who sells beer inappropriately."
Launched in Torrance, Calif., in 1996, the Eliminate Alcohol Sales to Youth (E.A.S.Y.) program has spread to cities across the nation.
Clerks caught selling beer to underage youths will have their permits yanked for a year for the first two violations. Three strikes and the beer seller cannot get another permit for three years.
Under the program, county health officials team up with city law officers and underage police decoys for quarterly sting operations.
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Wednesday, July 21, 2004
STOP Underage Drinking Act: Important First Step
U.S. Newswire, DC, July 21, 2004
The "STOP Underage Drinking Act" is an important initiative in preventing and reducing underage drinking. Introduced by a bi- partisan group of U.S. senators and representatives, this legislation marks a much-needed recognition of the scope and devastating consequences of underage drinking, which tragically results in the death of more than nine young people every day in this country.
The STOP Underage Drinking Act employs many of the well-tested, common-sense policies and programs recommended in the Institute of Medicine's September 2003 report to Congress. It calls for measures to reduce alcohol's availability to teens, better enforce drinking laws, and provide more resources for local community efforts. It also begins the process of developing an adult- oriented media campaign to educate parents about this issue.
Finally, the bill provides for public health monitoring of the amount of alcohol advertising reaching our youth. This critical information will allow policymakers and parents to hold the alcohol industry accountable and responsible.
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City wants control over group park liquor sales
The Arizone Republic, AZ, July 21, 2004
Having already banned alcohol in city parks, Avondale now wants better control over non-profit groups that sell liquor during large-scale community events.
The City Council approved an ordinance Monday calling for stricter controls on groups that request a "special-event liquor license" from the city and state.
The council voted earlier this month to stop issuing temporary alcohol permits for city parks, meaning residents can no longer have alcohol for picnics, family reunions or other events at the park. The city, however, exempted non-profit groups holding community events, such as the annual Billy Moore Days or Fiestas Patrias festivals. But council members said they wanted to enact guidelines for how those permits are issued.
Assistant City Manager Charlie McClendon said having guidelines in place for the licenses will prevent accusations that the city is "acting in an arbitrary or discriminatory manner" when recommending approval or denial.
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Legal, but Not Always Wanted
The Washington Post, DC, July 18, 2004
"People change when they have alcohol," The Bungalow restaurants' director of operations, Kevin M. Tracy said. "I think people make too many bad judgments. I've had people who were perfectly wonderful snap."
Virginia residents must have permits to carry concealed weapons, which are prohibited by law from establishments that serve alcohol -- but guns openly displayed are permitted.
Activists on both sides of the issue and Virginia lawmakers said the incidents are likely to generate heated discussion over gun laws in the next General Assembly session. Some lawmakers who share Tracy's concern said the debate, as in recent years, is likely to center on whether patrons should be allowed to carry guns in restaurants, such as The Bungalow, that serve alcohol.
Sen. Janet D. Howell (D-Fairfax) said she'll reintroduce a bill that would prohibit openly carried guns anywhere alcohol is served.
"I think that any reasonable person would agree that alcohol and guns don't mix," Howell said. "It's better to make sure that nothing happens than be sorry afterward. I expect that now that the public is aware of this outrageous behavior they'll be behind" the bill.
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Plans for tighter controls on booze ads
Media Week, UK, July 19, 2004
Media regulator Ofcom has proposed a shake-up of alcohol advertising in response to a government push to cut down on binge drinking and other drink-related problems.
The trigger for the review comes as two academic investigations - cited by Ofcom - blamed advertising as having some impact on young people’s attitudes to alcohol.
Tim Suter, Ofcom's partner, content and standards, said: "The evidence from research, as well as a broad consensus of public and industry opinion, indicates there is a strong case for specific changes to the existing rules on these particular products."
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Tuesday, July 20, 2004
Coors and Molson Announce They Are in Merger Talks
New York Times, NY, July 20, 2004
The Adolph Coors Company, the third-largest beer company in the United States, and Molson, the biggest Canadian beer company, said yesterday that they were in advanced discussions on a possible merger.
A combination would create a company with more than $6.5 billion in annual revenue and could increase competitiveness in the consolidating beer industry, analysts said. But some analysts said Coors, which is based in Golden, Colo., and Molson, with headquarters in Montreal, had experienced difficulties that a merger would not necessarily remedy.
Molson has been losing market share in Canada to discount brands. Sales of Coors's Coors Light, have slipped as Miller, the second most popular beer in the United States, attracts customers by offering beverages with lower carbohydrates to weight-conscious drinkers.
The companies said an announcement on a deal could be made "in the near future."
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City keeps door closed to alcohol and tobacco ads
Sault Ste. Marie Evening News, MI, July 20, 2004
Advertisements for an icy, cold Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer or Marlboro Cigarettes will not be appearing anytime soon at Pullar Stadium as the Sault Ste. Marie City Commission rejected this potential source of revenue on a 5-2 vote.
The plan, as recommended by the Community Services Board, would have allowed for alcohol and tobacco advertisement on the boards surrounding the rink. It is also believed that advertising space could have been sold on the Zamboni as well, advertising these products. While an exact financial figure was not established, it is believed the city could have raised around $500 during the upcoming season.
"I don't care how hard up we are," said Commissioner Dave Gonyeau flatly rejecting the notion that alcohol and tobacco advertising should be used to enhance city revenues.
Commissioner William Munsell echoed those sentiments, admitting he could not see any positive in advertising alcoholic beverages at youth activities.
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Monday, July 19, 2004
Rodeo wrestles with tobacco and alcohol ties
Idaho Statesman, ID, July 18, 2004
Tobacco and alcohol's presence in the sport a growing concern for some. The Schoeben family of Boise is going to the 89th Snake River Stampede in Nampa this week.
Alcohol, tobacco and their connection to sports is not a new topic, but the debate is heating up as some fans, participants and organizers grapple with tobacco use and tobacco and alcohol sponsorships at sporting events.
Alcohol, tobacco and its presence at restaurants and events is something the Schoeben family has discussed. Dawn Schoeben is a former cigarette smoker."Those are family values you have to talk with your kids about," Dawn said.
"You can debate this all over the place because think about the fair. The fair is family-oriented and there is alcohol there," said Middleton cowgirl Jessica Franks.
Rodeo participants, fans, organizers and sponsors are trying to sort it all out. Do chewing tobacco and booze belong at rodeos throughout the nation, especially those that market to families?Should pro rodeo turn its back on sponsors that have helped the sport grow? Should cowboys and cowgirls be role models, and if so, should they have connections to alcohol and tobacco?
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Village, IL, Says Cheers To Liquor Laws
Elk Grove Journal, IL, July 15, 2004
For the next year, Holiday Inn, 1000 Busse Rd., must adhere to a mandatory carding policy when a customer orders an alcoholic beverage due to a liquor infraction at the establishment July 1. Elk Grove Mayor Craig Johnson, also the village's liquor commissioner, believes this will provide a good opportunity for Elk Grove to examine the mandatory carding policy more closely.
Three and a half years ago, Elk Grove Village became the first municipality in Illinois and only the second in the nation to implement mandatory identification (I.D.) checks at liquor package stores.
Minors and alcohol are often mixed at banquets, including wedding receptions where an underage person's family may keep a watchful eye.
"It's against the law," Mayor Johnson said responding to the observation. "We can't control what happens in people's homes, but we can enforce the law in banquet halls." Later in the conversation Johnson remarked, "We don't mess around when it comes to minors and alcohol..."
"During liquor hearings [an underage] kid from west Schaumburg said that he drove to Elk Grove to purchase alcohol because everyone knew this was the place to come and not get carded," Johnson explained...Soon after the hearing, the village implemented mandatory carding.
"This is the town where everyone gets carded," the mayor stressed.
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Safety and Consumer Groups, Just Say No To Beer Industry's "Roll Back the Beer Tax" Break
JoinTogether.org, July 16, 2004
As members of the beer industry roam the halls of Congress this week to seek passage of legislation (H.R. 1305) to cut the national beer tax by 50 percent, a coalition of health, safety and consumer groups today warned of dire consequences if the beer industry gets its way.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) were joined by the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) and the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) to urge Congress to reject H.R. 1305. They also released a national public opinion poll showing that by a 2 to 1 margin, Americans oppose rolling back the federal excise tax on beer. The majority of Americans -- 71 percent -- would support increasing the national beer tax a few cents per bottle to equal the tax on liquor if the funds were used for substance abuse prevention.
Economic reports estimate that the 1991 increase in beer taxes saves more than 600 young lives in alcohol-related crashes each year. In 2000, alcohol-related traffic deaths rose to 16,653, which was the largest percentage increase on record. Research shows higher beer taxes result in fewer alcohol-related fatalities.
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Attention, parents: Teens want you to lock up your liquor
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL, July 16, 2004
In spite of its murderous effects -- claiming 100,000 lives each year and maiming countless others -- alcohol is the most accepted drug in the United States.
At a national level there are shocking statistics about alcohol abuse among teenagers. Several million teenagers are alcoholics with many more millions who have serious drinking problems.
Parents have been found hosting parties for their teenagers at which alcohol is available, thinking that if their teens are going to drink, they might as well do it where it is "safe." Some national surveys claim almost half of all parents have said they have purchased alcohol for their children.
Parents are not only supplying teenagers with alcohol at parties but are keeping an available supply stored in the cabinet or refrigerator.
Federal research suggests that two-thirds of all teens who drink buy their own liquor. Minors can easily get away with it by using fake identifications, and many stores don't bother checking.
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Friday, July 16, 2004
Heavy Drinking Raises Breast Cancer Risk
Health Central, July 14, 2004
A new study has confirmed that heavy drinking increases the risk of breast cancer, particularly among premenopausal women.
"Our study confirms earlier reports that heavy alcohol consumption is a risk for breast cancer," said Morten Gronbaek, a professor at the Centre for Alcohol Research at the National Institute of Public Health in Denmark.
"The second main finding is that there seems to be no difference in the effect of the different types of alcohol, which indicates that it is ethanol itself and not the type of drink that is responsible for breast-cancer development," he continued.
The study involved more than 13,000 women between 20 and 91 years of age. Heavy drinking was defined as the consumption of more than 27 alcoholic drinks a week.
The study appears in the July issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.
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Underage drinking still a concern for safety advocates
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, July 15, 2004
WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers and highway safety advocates yesterday celebrated the 20th anniversary of the law that raised the nation's minimum drinking age from 18 to 21, pointing to federal statistics showing that it has saved an estimated 20,000 young lives.
But the lawmakers, joined at a news conference by leaders of the group Mothers Against Drunk Driving, or MADD, cautioned that the battle against underage drinking and driving isn't yet won.
MADD officials are lobbying Congress to include provisions to expand the federal fight against underage drinking in a massive highway funding bill. The legislation is bogged down in a House-Senate conference committee, which is seeking a consensus on how much to spend for transportation needs.
The report concluded that "underage drinking cannot be successfully addressed by focusing on youth alone," noting that teens usually obtain alcohol -- either directly or indirectly -- from adults. In particular, "parents tend to dramatically underestimate underage drinking generally and their own children's drinking in particular. Efforts to reduce underage drinking, therefore, need to focus on adults and must engage the society at large."
The report also recommended that the federal government increase funding for enforcing current laws prohibiting alcohol sales to teens. In addition, there should be one federal agency designated to deal with underage drinking issues, the report said.
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Town divided over proposal to sell alcohol
News 14 Carolina, NC, July 15, 2004
Johnston County town is divided over a proposal to sell alcohol. Next week, Wilson's Mills residents vote on beer sales and it could be very close.
Peggy Rawls is against selling alcohol in Wilson’s Mills. "Drinking causes a lot of ruckus sometimes," she said. "I've seen what drinking can do to a family."
On Tuesday, the town's residents will decide whether to allow beer and wine sales. Some feel alcohol sales would help the town's struggling economy.
But even if the referendum does pass, not all convenience stores in Wilson's Mills plan to sell beer. Tony Southerland owns J.D.’s Country Store and is not interested in profit from alcohol sales.
"I feel like you need to put more emphasis on the quality of life and the lifestyles families are able to live in this community and not so much emphasis on dollars or bringing in the dollars."
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Thursday, July 15, 2004
Tag-You’re It
TechnologyReview.com, July 13, 2004
From baggage to tires to beer, industry is rapidly embracing RFID as the ultimate tracking technology. Can reality match the hyped expectations?
Lost or mishandled baggage costs Delta “around $100 million dollars” a year, according to a spokesperson...Delta announced in early July that it was investing $15-25 million to implement a radio frequency identification (RFID) system in its luggage handling process.
One of the most compelling cases of RFID usage comes from the British brewing industry. In late May, Trenstar, a Denver-based logistics company, signed a deal with Coors UK, and now has partnerships with the three largest brewing companies in Britain to manage their keg shipments. Previously, the breweries owned their own kegs and managed their shipment and returns-a costly and labor-intensive process. Trenstar bought the kegs from these companies and outfitted each with an RFID tag. The breweries now contract the keg coordination with Trenstar, which provides detailed audit trails of exactly where the kegs are and when they’re due back. “The biggest benefit to brewers from RFID is the reduction of asset loss," says David Adams, vice president for corporate strategy at Trenstar. "Breweries lose on average five to six percent of their kegs every year. We’ve cut that by more than half already.”
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Police target liquor supply to minors
Santa Fe New Mexican, NM, July 13, 2004
Española city police and the Special Investigations Division of the New Mexico Department of Public Safety ran the weekend sting, in which two 19-year-olds approached liquor stores and tried to make purchases.
Under the old law, anyone supplying alcohol to a minor - meaning someone under the age of 18 - could be prosecuted on felony charges of contributing to delinquency. The new law, which went into effect July 1, extends felony prosecution to those who give alcohol to anyone under the age of 21.
“I believe, and the Legislature and the governor believe, that underage drinking is a major contributor to the DWI problem that we face in New Mexico,” Valdez said. “The message is that the drinking age is 21, and not until 21.
Peter Olson, spokesman for the New Mexico Department of Public Safety, noted that in one of the stores where a clerk was arrested this weekend, there was a state-issued warning sign posted over the cash register warning that the new state law making alcohol sales to young people a felony had gone into effect.
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Wednesday, July 14, 2004
20 Years - 20,000 Lives Saved!
Yahoo News, July 14, 2004
Hailed as one of the most effective anti-drunk driving laws ever passed, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and members of Congress today marked the 20th anniversary of the National Uniform 21 Minimum Drinking Age Act by announcing that 20,000 young lives have been saved from highway crashes since the law was enacted in 1984.
Underage drinking kills 6,000 people annually due to traffic crashes, homicides, suicides and unintentional injuries. A recent National Academy of Sciences (NAS) study commissioned by the federal government aims to change that...
The number of alcohol-related traffic fatalities and injuries, now accounting for more than 40 percent of all traffic crashes, has stalled and Congress must take action before they leave Capitol Hill this fall. The reauthorization of the federal transportation bill currently pending in Congress must increase accountability for traffic safety spending and establish a nationwide law enforcement mobilization campaign to combat drunk driving and boost seat belt use.
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Stop N Save tags liquor to reduce underage drinking
Grand Junction Sentinel, CO, July 14, 2004
Local Stop N Save stores are trying to reduce underage alcohol purchases by requiring clerks to check customers’ identifications and fill out tags with every beer purchase.
“We’re doing it to keep alcohol out of the hands of minors,” said Bonnie Lightfoot, personnel supervisor for 16 Stop N Save stores in Colorado. The program is in effect at all Stop N Save stores except the store in Vail, which doesn’t sell alcohol.
The program began in April, after a Stop N Save in Edwards was cited for selling alcohol for an underage person, Lightfoot said. The company’s long-standing policy has been to require all beer buyers to show identification proving they’re at least 21, and the tag program was developed as a way to remind clerks to check for IDs, she said.
Lightfoot said that since the tag program started, she believes the convenience store chain has seen a drop in the number of customers who try to buy beer without first showing an ID.
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Tuesday, July 13, 2004
What's behind the Coors name?
Colorado Daily, CO, July 13, 2004
It's a name that has long been synonymous with Colorado and Colorado's flagship university. Its name is everywhere; from the stadium that is home to the Colorado Rockies, to the home court where CU's hoops teams roam, to the stage where CU winter graduates hear "Pomp and Circumstance" on their final day of college.
At the most recent CU Board of Regents meeting in late June, the topic came up again - coincidentally, inside the Coors Events Center - as CU-Boulder Chancellor Richard Byyny and Provost Phil DiStefano went over the new "Action Plan" to reform athletics.
BFA Chair Barbara Bintliff told the Colorado Daily last month that for real changes to happen at CU, it would have to take a community-wide effort.
"The alcohol problem is not isolated to athletics - it's in every department, every school, every dorm, every apartment in this town," she said. "But to some extent, that's what college students do. They're on their own and learning how to interact socially ... so they go out and drink."
CU-Boulder Chancellor Richard Byyny said the Coors Brewing Company advertising contract might yet be another thing CU could consider discussing in light of the scandal and high drinking levels.
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Youth group takes steps to curb drinking
News 10 Now, NY, July 13, 2004
A youth group in Skaneateles is taking steps to curb drinking in the community. The group hopes to raise enough money to create an alcohol free gathering place for both kids and adults.
Joe Strodel a member of The Collective says that all of the hard work is "so they can after school programs and in village and town. From arts and education, community service projects, helping other people in the community."
The not for profit group wants to raise about $10,000 to call the new community coffeehouse and bookstore home.
The coffeehouse is scheduled to open sometime later this fall. The group hopes to move in soon after and make it a popular community hot spot that's safe and alcohol free.
The group modeled its plan after the Common Grounds Project Cafe, which hosts several youth and alcohol free community events in Cazenovia.
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Lower Alcohol Limit In Delaware
KYW, PA, July 12, 2004
Governor Ruth Ann Minner has signed Delaware's lower blood alcohol limit into law.
She was joined this morning by anti-drunk driving advocates, medical professionals and law enforcement officials at the signing ceremony at Delaware State Police Headquarters.
Minner says the change will keep people on Delaware's roads safer. She estimates that lowering the limit could save as many as four lives in the state and prevent 100 alcohol-related injuries each year.
The governor says she also wants to ban open containers of alcohol from the passenger compartment of motor vehicles.
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Monday, July 12, 2004
Calif. city looks to put a cork on liquor stores
Boston Globe, MA, July 10, 2004
A crackdown on corner liquor stores is looming in this city, as officials consider a moratorium aimed at reducing the number of alcohol outlets in beleaguered neighborhoods that already have more than their fair share.
Oakland has more than 900 stores that sell alcohol -- about one for every 450 residents. The city has been grappling with the problem for decades, say community activists who have long sought action, particularly against neighborhood beer shops concentrated in some of the city's most impoverished, high-crime neighborhoods.
''It's been very difficult to get any kind of attention. For years, residents and communities were making the connection that alcohol and liquor stores were causing so many of the problems in our neighborhoods . . . but they weren't getting any action," said Joan Kiley, founder of the Alcohol Policy Network of Alameda County.
An unpublished study by the University of California at Berkeley suggests that a quarter of all calls made to Oakland Police were related to alcohol. ''A fair proportion of the problems" came from corner liquor stores, said Friedner Wittman, a researcher at the university's Institute for Study of Social Change. It indicates ''a problem that merits immediate attention," he said.
All except one of Oakland's seven districts are deemed by state alcohol authorities as oversaturated with liquor stores.
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Liquor and the little ones
Baton Rouge Advocate, LA, July 12, 2004
... part of a big teen gathering at LSU last month called "4-H University," focused on how teens can help keep their peers from drinking and driving. Alcohol "is usually put where every child can get to it," says Jim Champagne, executive director of the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission.
"There's no effort by families to ensure kids don't use alcohol. There just seems to be a feeling that it happens to other kids and won't happen to me," he said in an interview.
Champagne said children who start drinking as middle-schoolers are highly likely to develop into alcoholics as well as into dangerous drunken drivers. Peer pressure is the No. 1 cause of youthful drinking, the adult and teen experts agreed. At glamorous televised celebrity events, "Everybody has a drink in their hand," she said. "It teaches us that, if you want to be glamorous, you have to drink."
Changing the culture of free-flowing alcohol is one task of the Louisiana Coalition to Prevent Underage Drinking, says Dortha Cummins, the group's youth coordinator. Cummins also works to change public policies to discourage irresponsible drinking. She said a new law banning drinking by passengers -- not just drivers -- in vehicles could be a big help.
The long-sought change in the law has some exceptions, such as for passengers in motor homes. But it generally closes a loophole that allowed a drinking driver to pass the drink to a passenger to avoid being cited by police. Cummins said that might help alter the drinking culture among young people. Banning alcohol from the vehicle could make a difference, she said.
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Madison committee wants to end drink specials
WBAY, WI, July 11, 2004
A Madison City Council committee wants to put an end to drink specials.
The chairman of the Alcohol License Review Committee, Ken Kamp, says a ban on drink specials could help curb binge drinking. The U-W campus has been struggling with a high rate of binge drinking.
The Madison proposal would cover all bars, restaurants and hotels that serve alcohol.
Some campus area bars already have voluntary limits on drink specials.
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Friday, July 9, 2004
NASCAR's Policy As Clear As Whiskey
New London Day, CT, July 8, 2004
Imagine Nascar without beer sponsors. Poof! Gone. Beer and wine sponsorships are acceptable in NASCAR, but liquor sponsors are not welcome. Yet.
Roush Racing has Diageo, a large manufacturer of liquors (Johnnie Walker, J&B, Jose Cuervo) ready to sign on for Jeff Burton's No. 99 team. However, NASCAR recently rejected the sponsorship.
“What's at issue here is a long-standing rule going back to the '70s of a cooperation that the network TV partners would have when it comes to hard liquors and spirits,” Brian France, NASCAR's board chairman and chief executive officer, said during a conference call last week.
“Eighty percent of our events are on network TV. Hard liquor and cars (is) another element that you have to consider. We think the timing is just not right now. We'll review it down the road.”
The networks have an informal agreement not to accept liquor advertising, largely because they worry that younger viewers would be affected. Liquor ads are accepted on some cable carriers.
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Northwestern Michigan College wants liquor license
Record-Eagle, MI, July 9, 2004
Northwestern Michigan College is applying for a state liquor license, but that won't affect the ban on alcohol in or near the dorms, officials said.
The license, for which officials recently applied, would allow the college to serve alcohol at events at the Hagerty Center of the Great Lakes Campus, which hosts trade conferences, large meetings and receptions.
Currently, the college has to apply for a liquor license every time it holds such an event, spokeswoman Karen Anderson said.
In addition to providing an amenity for those who attend the events, the license would benefit the college's culinary arts students, said Fred Laughlin, director of the Great Lakes Culinary Institute there.
"It's especially important to learn about wine pairings with the food and how they interact," Laughlin said.
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Program to monitor crackdown on teen drinking
Journal News, NY, July 7, 2004
For every teen-ager with a beer, there is an adult who has provided it.
That is the perspective of an increasing number of advocates who claim that deaths due to underage drinking would drop if adults would simply take more responsibility. Now the federal government is testing that theory with a national trial that spotlights four towns in Putnam, Rockland and Westchester counties.
By 2006, researchers hope to have the first empirical evidence that adults have a substantial influence on underage drinking. Underage drinking accounts for 12 percent of all alcohol sales in the United States, or 3.6 billion drinks a year, according to Justice Department figures.
"One thing we keep saying about underage drinking is that it is an adult problem," said Judith Winston, the assistant director for community-based programs at Student Assistance Services Corp. in Tarrytown, which will manage the trial in New York. "If kids are drowning in a sea of beer, we can teach them to swim or we can stop the flood. This is about holding sellers and servers responsible for their actions."
The plan is to get coalitions built in all of the trial communities in New York and the other four states - Connecticut, Florida, Missouri and California. The coalitions in turn will each be given a $20,000 federal grant from the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention this year and in 2005. The communities will develop new laws to combat underage drinking and smarter ways to enforce the ones already on the books.
"The main focus here is on changing adult attitudes and behaviors, rather than the kids," said Cathryn Adler, the trial's project coordinator in Westchester. "I have heard only excitement about it."
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St. Thomas Aquinas youths made a difference
Foster's Daily Democrat, NH, July 6, 2004
Youths at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Dover are making an impact statewide.
Overcoming a number of obstacles, students belonging to the school’s Youth to Youth group succeeded in lobbying for a bill that makes hosting underage drinking parties illegal.
The bill became law this year and makes hosting such a party - whether by parents, teens or young adults - punishable under criminal law.
For the third time in one week recently, police in Laconia have broken up parties attended by underage drinkers, arresting their hosts under the new law.
A host arrested for a June 26 party at The Weirs in Laconia could be the first person to be prosecuted under the law.
Underage drinking remains a serious problem in New Hampshire and throughout the nation. Every year, thousands of young people are killed on our highways as a result of drunken driving.
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Thursday, July 8, 2004
College Area Gas Station Wins Alcohol License Fight
NBC Sandiego.com, CA, July 7, 2004
Residents near San Diego State University are upset about a nearby gas station that was given a license on Wednesday morning to sell alchohol.
The business's license was approved in the City Council chambers, where a San Diego city hearing officer approved the license. The College-area ARCO gas station and convenience store, which is located next to SDSU on College Avenue and Montezuma Road, made application last year as well, reported NBC 7/39, but the city rejected the owner's request.
Several people from SDSU showed up for Wednesday's hearing and were disappointed with the outcome. SDSU officials and alcohol-awareness groups said that selling alcohol so close to student dormitories is a threat to student safety and should be prohibited.
"We know that some of them have made, the planners have made recommendations to approve it," said Dr. Cleo Malone, an alcohol- and drug-prevention specialist. "We're going to oppose it, and we'll continue to oppose it, because the ultimate concern is for the health, safety and well-being of those students there."
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Study Links Obesity, Other Health Problems To Adolescent Binge Drinking
Science Daily, July 8, 2004
A University of Washington study has found that people who began binge drinking at age 13 and continued throughout adolescence were nearly four times as likely to be overweight or obese and almost 3½ times as likely to have high blood pressure when they were 24 years old than were people who never or rarely drank heavily during adolescence.
The study looked at young adult health consequences of adolescent binge drinking - consuming five or more drinks on a single occasion - between the ages of 13 and 18. Previous research has shown that adolescent binge drinking results in a number of immediate negative consequences, including involvement in fatal or injurious automobile accidents and engaging in risky sexual behavior. But little had been known about the effects of adolescent heavy drinking into young adulthood.
"Young adults who either did not binge drink or rarely did so during adolescence are the mostly likely to be healthy and engage in safe health-related behaviors," said Sabrina Oesterle, lead author of the study and a research associate in the UW's Social Development Research Group. "Being overweight or having hypertension can be linked to future problems such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer. What we are seeing are the first warning signs of more serious health problems. Young adults' history of binge drinking during the teenage years, irrespective of current levels of binge drinking, appears to have serious effects on their health by age 24."
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Alcohol prevention program receives grant
Oneonta Daily Star, NY, July 8, 2004
An Otsego County program focusing on preventing underage or high-risk drinking was included in a federal grant announced recently.
The grant is part of $1.7 million that seven campus-community partnerships will share to enact programs that deal mostly with alcohol-related problems. The money is from a $2.25 million grant the state Office of Alcoholism and Substance Services received from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service's Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, according to a news release. The remainder of the grant will be used to develop a statewide prevention data reporting system.
The task force is a two-year effort by members of the Oneonta police, Otsego County Sheriff's Department, Hartwick College, SUCO, bar owners and other community groups, said Elizabeth Currier, executive director of LEAF, a community partner. It is made up of representatives from the community that recognize "there was a problem that needed to be addressed," she said.
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Wednesday, July 7, 2004
Tailgating scaled back this season
Tribune Chronicle, OH, July 6, 2004
A modified form of tailgating will be back for the Youngstown State University football season this year, said State Rep. Kenneth A. Carano, D-Austintown.
According to a deal worked out with the state liquor control board, some campus organizations, such as the Alumni Association, would have to sell alcohol at the tailgating parties. But after next year, Carano said, ''Tailgating will be back as usual.''
Tailgating at YSU has been on hiatus since the end of the 2003 football season, when an obscure state law against open containers in public places had YSU officials fearing frivolous lawsuits if they allowed tailgating, said Carano. Now, a bill is in State Senate committee that would permit tailgating at state universities. It's already passed the House.
The bill, sponsored by Carano, creates a new liquor license for universities or professional teams that permits open containers in restricted areas.
Carano said he'd negotiated with groups who'd opposed the legislation in the House, including a group that wanted strict controls on underage drinking on campuses. ''While teen drinking is a concern, this was not the platform for that,'' Carano said.
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How to Change Alcohol Policies on Campus
Preventing Alcohol Problems on College Campuses
Tuesday, July 6, 2004
Patterns: With More Ads, More Girls Drink
New York Times, NY, July 6, 2004
In recent years, drinking has become more common among teenage girls than boys, federal surveys have found. A study released today suggests one possible explanation: an increase in alcohol advertising reaching teenage girls.
The study, published in The Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, said drinking by all teenagers had increased in recent years. Twice as many students under 18 said they had tried alcohol in 1999 than in 1995, and more girls than boys said in 2002 that they had been drinking at least once in the prior month.
The study cited industry statements showing that alcohol advertising had increased steadily in the same period, especiallyfor low-alcohol drinks like wine coolers and alcoholic iced teas.
The biggest change from 2001 to 2002 came in ads for the low-alcohol drinks, the article said; girls' exposure to such ads jumped 216 percent, while boys' exposure went up 46 percent.
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Officials conduct alcohol retailer training
Grand Island Independent, NE, July 5, 2004
In an effort to reduce the number of sales of alcohol to minors in Hall County, area law enforcement officials offered two training sessions for local alcohol retailers.
The classes were a response to the May 7 compliance checks done in Hall County by local law enforcement. Eighteen percent of the 67 businesses checked were noncompliant with liquor laws. Of the employees who sold to a minor, all but one checked ID and sold the alcohol anyway.
The June 22 training effort was part of the Think B4U Wink campaign that was developed to address adult attitudes condoning underage drinking. The program also increases enforcement of youth alcohol laws in area counties.
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See How Communities Handle Summer Holidays
Longs Drugs Agrees To Downtown Store Without Alcohol
Berkeley Daily Planet, CA, July 6, 2004
Longs Drugs is apparently coming to downtown Berkeley and checking its beer and wine selection at the door.
The chain drug store retailer had threatened to pull out of a deal, nearly two years in the making, to bring an outlet to 2300 Shattuck Ave. at the corner of Bancroft Way, when the Zoning Adjustment Board (ZAB) granted it a use permit that forbade the sale of alcohol.
The plan to carry beer and wine ran into opposition from the Berkeley Unified School District and the Berkeley Police Department. Police Chief Roy Meisner wrote to the State Department of Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) and the city’s planning department that alcohol sales at Longs would increase crime in the area that already experienced rates of police calls for drugs or alcohol 97 percent above the city average.
School Board President John Selawsky, who engineered a board resolution opposing Longs, hailed the company’s retreat as “great news. The sale of alcohol so close to a school doesn’t make sense,” he said. “As long as there’s no alcohol I’m happy.”
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More on Alcohol Outlet Density and What Communities Can Do
College students testing limits of detox clinics
Lacrossetribune.com, WI, July 3, 2004
Binge drinking is on the rise in the United States and is climbing fastest among 18- to 20-year-olds, who are too young to drink legally, according to a 2003 survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"We're seeing a lot more people in detox," La Crosse Police Chief Edward Kondracki said. "But it's only a small portion of the intoxicated persons who come to the attention of police officers. They're not just inebriated. They have to be incapacitated, unable to care for themselves, to go to detox. I've said it before: They're like a turtle on its back."
"It's frustrating for officers because their only intervention for someone so incapacitated is to take the person to the hospital," Kondracki said. "We're fortunate to have two quality detox units in town, but detox is a band-aid approach and a manifestation of a bigger problem, and binge drinking is a symptom of a bigger problem."
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More on Preventing Alcohol Problems on College Campuses
Friday, July 02, 2004
First lady of Wyoming: Parents
can reduce kids' drinking
Casper Star Tribune (WY), Thu, Jul 1, 2004
Many children in Wyoming start using alcohol at very young ages -- by 11 for
boys, and by 13 for girls, first lady Nancy Freudenthal said Wednesday at the
Wyoming Project Guardian conference in Casper.
She gave some other startling facts: One in four Wyoming
eighth-graders has been drunk, and not just on a few sips
of beer. In many cases, she said, they are drinking to get
drunk.
"The next time your child comes up to you and tells
you you're clueless -- they're right," Freudenthal said. "You
are clueless when it comes to underage drinking,"
During her presentation at the three-day conference on school
and community safety, which began Monday, Freudenthal suggested
ways for parents and community members to stop children from
drinking alcohol.
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full text of article
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on Holding Parents Responsible for Teen Drinking
Outdoor Alcohol on Knoxville's
Strip
WVLT TV (TN), Fri, Jul 2, 2004
The public debate over allowing patio alcohol sales on Knoxville's Cumberland
Avenue strip is over for now. Thursday night, Knoxville City Council members
agreed to take no action until police and business owners can work out a compromise.
Cumberland Avenue merchants and Knoxville police sat down
and talked about the issue. The City Council was scheduled
for a vote on Tuesday, but will table that vote. The debate
is over money versus public safety.
Knoxville Police say adding alcohol sales will result in
more crime in an already high crime area. Knoxville Police
Chief Phil Keith says, "Cumberland Avenue has been ranked
in the top five crime spots in our community for years. Police
say outlawing parking lot beer sales in 2001 reduced assaults
on police officers, underage drinking, and over-serving.
They say all of that has contributed to a safer environment.
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full Article
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Facts about Alcohol and Violence
Lazy Days of Summer Can Lead
to Increased Underage Drinking
PR Newswire Retail, Thu, Jul 1, 2004
A recent government report reveals that June and July are the months when young
people are most likely to engage in underage drinking. And, according to the
Century Council, a leading on-profit organization devoted to curbing underage
drinking, 65% of those young people get their alcohol from friends and family.
To help educate teens and caution adults about the serious consequences of underage
drinking, an innovative, multi-state outreach program entitled the "Alcohol
Safety Network" was unveiled in Kansas City today to coincide with the period
when teens are most likely to consume alcohol for the first time -- summertime.
The Alcohol Safety Network's "You Can't Afford the Buzz" campaign
is
targeting two specific audiences -- adults who could be tempted to purchase
alcohol for minors and the teens who are especially vulnerable this time of
year. It will utilize eye-catching, stickers which will be posted in retail
establishments throughout Kansas and Missouri to inform adults of the potential
fines and penalties for providing alcohol to minors. The dramatic red and black
point-of-sale stickers feature a man's hands in handcuffs -- a compelling image
relaying important information. In Kansas, a conviction can carry up to a $500
fine and possible jail time. In Missouri, adults face up to $1000 in fines
and possible jail time.
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full text of article
Penalty Increases For Providing Alchohol
To Minor
KOAT (NM), Thu, Jul 1, 2004
A new law taking effect Thursday will make it a felony to provide alcohol to
anyone under the age of 21.
Under the current law the offense is a misdemeanor that is typically punished
with a fine or probation.
The maximum penalty under the new law is 18 months in prison and fines of
up to $5,000.
Teresa Holguin -- the mother of a 14-year-old girl who died of acute alcohol
poisoning after drinking at a slumber party in 2002 -- said she hopes the
new law will make those who provide liquor to minors pay the consequences.
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full text of article
Thursday, July 1, 2004
Students urge a U.S. war on alcohol
Detroit Free Press, MI, June 30, 2004
The United States declared war on terrorism after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks killed nearly 3,000 people. It's time, say some Bloomfield Hills teens, for the government to wage a new war -- on alcohol.
That's the message three Lahser High School students are trying to get out through a public service announcement that will air this summer on WJBK-TV (Channel 2) in Detroitand possibly other stations.
On Tuesday, with the help of professionals from Forest Post Productions, a video and commercial production company in Farmington Hills, the students put finishing touches on the announcement,which compares the death toll from the terrorist attacks to the tollfrom alcohol.
"Everyone takes 9/11 seriously. We want to get people to look at" the announcement "and get a little bit more serious about fighting alcohol abuse," said 16-year Chris Hutchinson, one of the ad's creators.
According to the students' research, inSeptember 2001 there were 8,000 alcohol-related deaths in the United States-- almost three times as many livesas were claimed in the terrorist attacks. And the deaths continue, they say, with about 300 alcohol-related deaths daily in the United States.
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More on Alcohol and Youth
Porter bans open alcohol at parade
Munster Times,IN, June 30, 2004
Alcohol use on town property has been limited under the provisions of an ordinance passed Tuesday by the Town Council. The new law, which calls for a fine of $500 per infraction, will be publicly posted and in effect in time for Sunday's July Fourth Midnight Parade.
Public intoxication and resulting rowdy and lewd behavior at the parade in recent years were the impetus behind the ordinance, council Vice President Bill Sexton said. The hefty fine was meant as a deterrent to the past alcohol abuse, Sexton said.
Under the ordinance, businesses or individuals must obtain a permit at least 15 days before an event where alcoholic beverages will be available on town property. Outside of approved events, no open containers of alcohol will be permitted.
Despite the hour, there are a lot of families there," Lane said. "I think it's a great idea," Nietzel said. "I know this is a free country and we're celebrating Independence Day, but people should realize Porter doesn't have a Mardi Gras and some day somebody could get hurt."
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See How Communities Handle Summer Holidays
Residents concerned about alcohol at Lake Park
Coshocton Tribune, OH, June 30, 2004
Should people be allowed to drink at Lake Park? In fact it happens quite often, since people rent the Lake Park pavilion for such things as weddings and formal banquets.
But people also are drinking beers at the park after softball games, and Mosier said he's seeing if something can be done to stop it. He said he will ask prosecutor Robert Bachelor what sort of drinking is considered a violation of the state's "open container" law.
Mosier said that once he receives a legal opinion from Batchelor, the sheriff's office will notify the public of what the requirements are under the law. "We don't want to go over and just arrest a lot of people."
Mosier said he could not say if drinking is a significant problem at the park, but he would like to see it stopped. He said the department has received some calls about loud confrontations at games, but he can't say whether these incidents are made worse by alcohol.
"We've got a wonderful park area there," Mosier said. "We have as nice a swimming area as any in the state." There is no need for the children using those areas to go past adults who are drinking, he said. "What is the park saying to this community? What are we teaching our youth?" Mike Hammersley said. "How are we going make our community safe if we drink after softball games and drive."
Jill Hammersley says it's completely unnecessary for adult players to drink at the park in the presence of minors. "They're showing our youth this is how our adults have a good time," she said. "My main concern here is the complacency (about) alcohol -- not just in our community but all over."
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Last call for Gaelic Athletic Association drink link
Irish Examiner, June 30, 2004
The recommendations of a task force headed by former Galway hurler Joe Connolly followed a year of consultation with the government, health boards, and its clubs throughout the country.
In a wide-ranging report, the task force calls for the ending of alcohol sponsorship deals with the association; the appointment of a full-time official to promote a healthy approach to drink, and a code of conduct to be established and implemented.
Amongst the proposals was the ambition that: “cups should not be filled with any alcoholic drink by successful GAA teams at any level.”
The issue of whether sporting organisations should continue to accept sponsorship money from the alcohol industry has grown in profile and controversy in recent years and the GAA were incensed by being, they believed, unfairly singled out over the matter by one government minister.
“We have recommended that sponsorship by alcohol companies and pubs in the GAA be phased out. We will leave that to the wisdom of the GAA to implement in their own time scale. We believe that there is a growing culture of being aware of our responsibility that it may be time for the GAA to have a policy on this.
“Ultimately, Guinness being a drinks brand probably isn’t compatible, in the long run, with the GAA..."
Connolly spoke eloquently of the culture in the GAA where underage players were constantly exposed to a drinking environment at functions and after games, a culture, he said, that has to be eradicated. The report also recommends that GAA bars should promote practices such as serving food.
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